I rolled my eyes. “Sue me for being curious but who the hell was that guy? Was he the acting CEO of your company? Is that why you were so desperate to have us sign with you?”
I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be angry at Audrey for leaving that part out when she came to us with her offer, but it seemed like it was the other way around. “Why did you have to butt in on the conversation?”
Scoffing, I stared at her in disbelief. “The conversation happened to talk about me and my band. Did you honestly expect me to just stay in one corner?”
Audrey gritted her teeth in annoyance. “Well, I hope you’re happy because you literally made the whole thing worse for me. Now everyone’s going to think that I’ve been sleeping with you just to get you sign that damn contract when in truth, I didn’t even want to do this if only I had another choice!”
My eyebrows shot up in shock. “So, are you telling me that this is all fake? You being nice and offering me and Vi a place to sleep in.”
Her eyes narrowed as she let out a short laugh. “I was never fake to you, Julian. I’ve always made it clear to you that I hate you and that I just needed you to sign that damn contract with our company because I needed it to get my company back from those assholes.”
I clenched my fist. “Well, aren’t you just selfish.”
“Don’t you bring that word up to me because you’re basically the same.”
I scoffed. “Don’t turn the table around and put this on me, Audrey. You only came to me because you had no other choice, not because you were concerned about the band having no label to sign with. I always knew there was something about that desperation of yours that screamed you had a different agenda."
But Audrey wasn’t even apologetic as she stared at me with her fiery brown eyes. “Do you want me to apologize for only making sure that the company stays within my family? You should be thankful, really. I did you a favour.”
Shaking my head, I took a step back at Audrey and stared at her. Whatever kindness I saw in her yesterday, whatever different light she had walked in since our last argument, it was all a façade. She just needed us to sign with her. She was desperate to keep her company and she was willing to do anything for it, even if it meant to fake some kindness and sympathy.
“Actually, we’re the ones doing you a favour but the thing is, I don’t think we could do it any longer.”
Audrey’s jaw twitched. “You signed that contract, Julian. As long as I’m your assistant…”
“Well, you should’ve presented the facts better, Audrey. If we’d known why you needed us so desperately, maybe I wouldn’t have reconsidered.”
“Why does it even matter?” Audrey asked, the exasperation evident in her voice. “So, I was selfish but we’re a little selfish, aren’t we?”
I remembered how she was tearful when she walked out on me that time we argued in public and how I felt so guilty for what I said. “When you walked out on me after what I said that day, I was wrecked with guilt that was why I came here to apologize in the way I knew how. You made me feel guilty for being selfish, for calling the shots with my band without them knowing and yet you’ve been the selfish one here.”
“Maybe we’re all a little selfish, Audrey,” I said quietly, staring deep into her brown eyes, “but at least not everyone is as manipulative as you.”
14
Audrey
Julian couldn’t leave no matter how much he wanted to.
He was visibly pissed after finding out why I had made the offer to the band, and he wanted to leave and probably never speak to me ever again. But Violet held him back. She wanted to stay in my house and enjoy my pool and then go to Santa Monica pier in the afternoon. Julian told her that they could go there whenever as long as they left from my house but then again, they didn’t have a car and had to catch an Uber to leave.
That, and Violet wanted me to come.
“Aren’t you going to apologize to him?” Theo asked me. We were both in the kitchen, preparing snacks for Violet who seemed to be having fun swimming in the pool. Julian was there with her too, to make sure she doesn’t drown but also to avoid me as much as he could.
I made a face as I cut the crusts off the sandwich I was making. “I don’t think there’s anything I’m meant to apologize for, T. He’s making a big deal out of nothing. The nerve of him to say I’m manipulative…”
“You were desperate, weren’t you?” Theo said quietly, setting aside the bowl filled with chips and lacing his hands together as he regarded me carefully. I knew the look on Theo’s face well. This was the look he had on his face when he was trying to be cautious and tip-toeing around me as if I was a ticking time-bomb. “You wanted to keep your position so even if you hated Julian, you convinced him to agree with your offer.”
“It was a compromise!” I argued, pushing the cutting board away from me and glaring at my friend in annoyance. “The band will sign with us as long as I become his assistant for a month. That was the agreement. It was a compromise. I didn’t manipulate him to say yes to me because I was desperate to keep the company within my family.”
Theo still gave me the same look. “And what about what Julian mentioned? About him coming here to apologize after what he said to you that one time?”
I recounted the story to Theo when he had called. Theo didn’t really have much comment on what happened at that time but regarded how Julian was able to own up to his mistake. “What do you want me to do?”
“Apologize to him the same way he apologized to you.”
“Make him cookies?”
Theo gave me a pointed look and I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act slightly innocent. “Don’t be dumb, Audrey. You can’t cook or bake even if your life depended on it and you know what I mean. The guy felt bad for calling you out on what you did even if it was true and you’re upset because you got called out again on your bullshit yet you’re still letting your pride get in the way when you’re the one at fault.”
“How is it that I’m the one at fault?”
“Do we always need to be at fault to know that we did something wrong?”
“How was it wrong that I kept the real reason to myself and not tell him? Why did he even need to know?”
“That’s not the point, Audrey. The point is that you made him feel bad enough that one time so he felt the need to apologize to you. The guy thinks you manipulated him into apologizing to you for speaking out the truth because you didn’t like it and it hurt you. And now he’s upset because technically, you’re using their band to get to your position. If you were in his position, won’t you feel like you’re being used?”
I clenched my hands into tight fists. I was annoyed at Theo for taking Julian’s side because if I was being real here, I didn’t even understand why Julian was so upset at me after he found out. We all had our reasons and maybe the reason why I wanted to recruit their band was to plant my ass on the CEO chair, but so what?
Why did he have to be such a bitch about it?
The sliding door that connected the kitchen to the backyard opened, and Julian walked in, his jaw clenched tight. “I’ll grab Vi’s towel and have her change and then we will head to the pier.”